All Whites begin World Cup qualifying with win over Tahiti in dour match
Friday, 11 October 2024
The All Whites beat Tahiti 3-0 in their first 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier on Friday.
Elijah Just, Chris Wood and Ben Waine scored the goals in a mostly dour match at VFF Freshwater Stadium in Vanuatu.
The All Whites now have a friendly against Malaysia at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Monday to close out the October international window.
At VFF Freshwater Stadium, Port Vila: All Whites 3 (Elijah Just 2’, Chris Wood 67’, Ben Waine 89’) Tahiti 0. HT: 1-0
There was no chance of anyone being overstimulated by the All Whites’ first qualifying match for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, but they got the job done on Friday all the same.
Once Elijah Just scored in the second minute against Tahiti, only one result seemed likely at VFF Freshwater Stadium in Vanuatu, but it turned out to be the only goal New Zealand managed for over an hour.
Captain Chris Wood doubled their lead in the 67th minute when he was allowed a free header at a corner, with Ben Waine making the final score 3-0 in the 89th minute of a largely dour match.
Even once they conceded after 90 seconds, Tahiti remained determined to sit deep inside their own half, forming a thick red wall.
The All Whites struggled to work their way around it or through it, with a tame toe poke from Marko Stamenic that met a Matt Garbett cross their only real shot before the water break after half an hour.
Refreshed in the 32C heat, they were better in the closing stages of the first half, with a fierce Liberato Cacace shot after a one-two with Stamenic taking a deflection and going wide in the 35th minute.
New Zealand goalkeeper Max Crocombe made an error when he failed to collect an unthreatening cross from deep in the 37th minute, giving Tahiti a corner which they failed to make the most of, as taker Mauri Heita sent it into the first defender.
The All Whites’ best chance to double their lead in the first half came in the 40th minute, when Ben Old shifted to the right and cut inside and curled home a shot that was deflected by a defender’s head and hit the left post.
Nando Pijnaker and Alex Rufer both had shots blocked inside the box as their side piled on the pressure, but were unable to profit while camped out in Tahiti’s half.
The All Whites came out of the break showing more urgency, but their final balls remained misdirected and overhit and their frustration showed when Wood fired off a snap shot from the edge of the box.
Ben Waine and Sam Sutton entered off the bench for Eli Just and Liberato Cacace just after the hour mark and it was Sutton who set up the breakthrough, sending in a whipped corner that found a free Wood at the back post.
Tahiti captain Teaonui Tehau registered a shot on target for his side with a tame effort that was sent straight at Crocombe.
Sitting two goals to the good, the All Whites hardly needed to exert themselves and Waine gave the scoreline a bit of polish with an easy finish inside the box when the ball came to him following an air-kick by Garbett.
The big picture
The All Whites move to the top of the standings in group B, with Vanuatu hosting Samoa in the other match this month on Saturday (kickoff 4pm NZ time). While they might have been more incisive, the 3-0 win was the second largest they’ve had in 16 World Cup qualifiers in the Pacific Islands since Australia departed the region in 2006.
In group A, New Caledonia began with a 3-1 win over Papua New Guinea on Thursday, while Fiji beat the Solomon Islands 1-0 courtesy of a goal from former Wellington Phoenix star Roy Krishna, despite playing the second half with 10 men. The other fixtures in that group will be played in Papua New Guinea in November.
What’s next
The All Whites were set to fly to Auckland on Friday night ahead of their first match on home soil in 19 months – a friendly against Malaysia at North Harbour Stadium on Monday night. Their other two World Cup qualifying group stage matches are scheduled for mid-November in Hamilton against Vanuatu and Auckland against Samoa.